February 15, 2012

A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.

I know if it wasnt New York, or the Kid wasnt Asian, this would be a story talked about in the last 5 min of Sportscenter, not the first 5, but how about an Over under before Jeremy Lin hits the wall and disappears.

I know if it wasnt New York, or the Kid wasnt Asian, this would be a story talked about in the last 5 min of Sportscenter, not the first 5, but how about an Over under before Jeremy Lin hits the wall and disappears.

That's bullshit. He graduated from Harvard and was cut by two teams. This is a classic sports underdog story.

I know if it wasnt New York, or the Kid wasnt Asian, this would be a story talked about in the last 5 min of Sportscenter, not the first 5 ...

An undrafted 23-year-old cut by two teams this season scored more points his first four starts than any player in NBA history. He's led the Knicks to six straight wins without Carmelo Anthony in the lineup. Several of his stats put him among the biggest stars in the league.

This Sidd Finch tale would be a huge story wherever it happened and regardless of race. It's one of the most remarkable out-of-nowhere stories in the history of pro sports. The fact he's Asian-American and graduated from Harvard are just the icing on the taro.

The kid's actually got me slightly interested in the NBA, and that's really saying something. On the other hand, as I was on the treadmill this morning, I watched a 7 minute or so SportsCenter segment comparing Lin to Tebow. If I'd had a sharp implement handy, I may have slit my wrist. I tought we might get a Tebow break until August. Instead, someone else comes into a different league and shows tremendous skill, and the first thing to come to mind is Tebow?

Yes, but everyone wishes he hadn't happened so the media could continue to hype self-proclaimed basketball gods like Lebron James and the crap they spew that enlightens us all (at least until the playoffs roll around).

Lin's play has created the hype, not the media. The media has tagged on to Lin's success. I imagine the Knicks must feel like they've been struck by lightning finding a quality player who's jersey sales will be in the top 5 this year.

Meh, maybe that means he can get back to actually analyzing games and showing us stuff instead of telling us how he's watched every second of game footage from the season and can assure us some nobody is going to be the next big thing.

It's too bad more people can't just enjoy what Lin is doing and stop hoping he'll fail so they can make themselves feel good by saying, "I told you so."

The Knicks were missing a decent threat at point guard, and Lin should only be helped by Amare and Anthony returning to the lineup. The Knicks had to play better (it would have been nearly impossible for them to play worse) and Lin has lit a spark. He has also made me tune in to Knick games (although if the Sabres didn't suck so bad I would have been watching them last night instead), something a borderline NBA fan like myself didn't expect to happen.

I can understand why this might add to the attractiveness of the story to the media, but I really don't think it matters. Lin was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Palo Alto. That makes him a US citizen by birth, or if you must, an American. His parents were immigrants from Taiwan, but that changes nothing. My parents also immigrated - from Canada and Barbados - but that didn't make me anything special. What makes Lin special is that he has talent that was not recognized until circumstance gave him a chance to exhibit it. Once the Knicks have some of their injured back court players return, bet on his playing time decreasing.

Sorry, I started this conversation, then my computer and i had some "differences of opinion".

Kid wasnt Asian .I can understand why this might add to the attractiveness of the story .

How can you not. He has the chance to pull a totally different demographic of fans into liking Pro basketball. Given, an underdog is an underdog, but the NBA is always trying to market and expand their product.

how about an Over under before Jeremy Lin hits the wall and disappears

I will set it 18 more games. In most seasons, the schedule is more spread out. I think this run of games and practice will wear him out.

His Asian heritage changes a lot for a global game. For himself, for other future Asian-American and Asian NBA players and for millions of kids in China who would idolize a star player with a common heritage.

Lin would've been a phenomenal story regardless of his race or background. But seeing a guy who looks like him do this is David Stern's dream come true. The big pro sports are salivating over the Chinese market. The NBA's in the best position to spread the game to kids there. Football, baseball and hockey require more players and equipment. Basketball takes five people, a hoop and a ball.

The race issue seems to me to be the 27 other NBA teams who saw an Asian-American kid that went to Harvard and slept on him. And if the Knicks were healthy, they would've slept on him too.

It's great to watch. I watched the Laker game and the Raptors game and it was about five hours of the best sports watching in recent memory. After that, I couldn't even begin to give a shit what the haters say.